social control theories

Question 1

HUDSON - conformity and deviance

Answer 1

• conformity producing theories tend to focus on how people learn to conform, by internalising social norms and taking on social roles (like with the functionalist view of family and education)
• deviance repressing theories tend to look at the relationship between deviant behaviour and the measures used to reduce it e.g. right and left realist approaches to deviance

Question 2

MATZA - techniques of neutralisation

Answer 2

• when people commit deviant acts, they employ ‘techniques of neutralisation’ to explain why they had broken social norms and/or values
• techniques of neutralisation may include things such as “i was drunk, so i was out of control” to justify temporary deviance

Question 3

PARSONS - internalising norms

Answer 3

• one of the earliest perspectives on social control
• conformity was not just produced by external agencies coercing individuals to obey rules through the threat of punishment, but also through individuals internalising norms and values through socialisation

Question 4

HIRSCHI - important ties

Answer 4

• developed Parson’s idea further
• juvenile delinquency is a result of individuals bonds to society being weakened
• emphasised importance of ties to family, peers, education and work as important in maintaining social control

Question 5

MARXISM (BOWLES AND GINTIS) - engineered social control

Answer 5

• see social control as engineered by the capitalist class
• ‘conformity producing’ approaches - norms and values of education produce a passive workforce - as outlined in BOWLES AND GINTIS correspondence principle
• ‘deviance is reduced’ - police working with the elite and the state - WC street crime is over policed and prosecuted, while corporate crime is under-policed and under-prosecuted